A Different Road Traveled
by PCGirl
Summary: Tara's wish came true, but someone remembers the past and is going to make sure, even without vampires and angels, everyone has their happily ever after.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters are property of PC/ABC Disney—except for one, and that one is a brainchild of my own creativity. :)

A/N: CAGirl: as you wish :)

Alright, so you're probably sitting here thinking "Katie, what are you up to? I thought you were done with PC stories." Well, I'm actually not—I never was really. I've had this little "brainchild" in my head for an extremely long time—this is my _fix _on what I did at the end of Out of Sight.

I'm not ashamed of how I ended my story—sometimes you have to start from scratch, and that's what I'm doing. So here it is—my little secret that I think I kept from everyone except one little Awian—she's a smart one, but then I've never really fooled her with any of my twists or turns. Hehehehe. Until next time—PCGirl.

* * *

She took a long sip of the coffee in her hand and tightened her coat around her. A smile appeared on her face as she walked down the sidewalk slowly, remembering her life in Port Charles before. It was heaven to be back here—to finally be able to say she was home again. There were questions she had—questions she wanted answered for awhile now, and somehow she knew they would be answered soon. 

She closed her eyes and pushed her soft brown hair behind her ear, remembering the words she had told Livvie, "I'll fix this Livvie—I promise with everything I have I will fix this." It seemed like centuries ago that she had said that, and yet in a way it wasn't that long ago either.

Jasmine took the last sip of the coffee before tossing the cup in the trash can and walking on—enjoying the fact that whatever her journey was, it was both almost over and just beginning.

* * *

Alison pulled the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door to her bakery that she had aptly named Just Heavenly. She smiled and began humming as she started her day with putting out the labels in the case as to what everything was going to be and then slipped on an apron before turning the coffee pots on and going to start baking her daily scones, muffins, and whatever other sweets came to mind. 

She was in the back when she heard the bells on the front door ring, letting her know a customer had arrived, "Just a minute."

She didn't hear a response from the customer so went out to check, "Hi," she smiled brightly but the man said nothing. "Can I get you something? A cup of coffee?"

"Give me your money—all of it," he said as he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.

Her mind started running quickly but she forced herself to stay calm and cleaned out the register—he backed up and she saw someone else about to come in—a business man, dressed in a dark suit. He backed away from the door and as the gunman began to run Alison saw him chase him down the street.

* * *

Livvie was in her own world as she took one of the files Eve had set aside for her to do the preliminary workup on. She was in her second year of school at PCU and had been given a job at the hospital during the time between semesters. 

She didn't even see the sandy blonde police officer walk off the elevator or into her way until she walked into him and ended up sitting on the floor, the file spread around her.

"I'm sorry-are you hurt?" he asked as he kneeled down and grabbed the papers.

"I'm fine-really," she said as she took the papers from him and he helped her up. "Can I help you with something?"

"I'm looking for Dr. Ian Thornhart."

She looked back at the nurses station and saw him arguing with Eve about something-smiling at the thought that she knew what they were arguing about. "That's him right there."

"Thank you-sorry again," he smiled.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Ian as he slammed his hand down on the file his wife had just taken from a stack.

"Let's see Thornhart-I'm a doctor and I'm in a hospital-you do the math," she said as she attempted to pull the file out from under his hand but with wasted effort. "Come on-one extra patient isn't going to wipe me out."

"You don't know that," he said, a grin slowly appearing on his face.

"I'm going to talk to Chris-see if I can make him see things my way," she said as she began to march off.

"It's a waste of time and you know it," he yelled back with a laugh. He turned back to the case he was working on and then noticed the Policeman standing in front of him. "Can I help you?"

He held out his hand to shake, "I'm Officer Rafe Kovich-Mac Scorpio sent me down here today to talk to you about a case you treated a few days ago."

"Ahh-yes, Mac said he'd be sending someone about that," smiled Ian as he shook his hand, closed the file, and went to find an empty room for them to talk about what happened.

* * *

Alison was hanging up the phone with the 911 operator when Lucy came running in, "Alison? Are you ok? I saw two men running down the street out of your business." 

"I'm fine," she said as she finally caught her breath and came around the counter to sit at the small table. "The man—he came in and robbed me. I gave him my money and then the other man—the one in the suit, he just went chasing him."

"Do you want me to call Jamal?"

"No, he's got a busy day today—I'm fine, Lucy."

"Alison," she warned at what she was doing. "He'd want to know if you were in trouble."

"But I'm not—I am worried about the guy that went chasing after the robber," she said as she walked to the door and saw him coming back—the bag of money in his hand, but without the robber.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Let's see-what do I love about this story so far? Eve! And "my" Jasmine alsobut I'll always love her cause she's the only character I created myself that I have left (and I've only got myself to blame for that one-LOL) If you've got major questions about certain things in the story e-mail me seperately and I'll make sure that somewhere in the story that question gets answered, or point it out to where to look. Until next time-ya'll are the best and rewriting history is fun-PCGirl.

* * *

Eve walked off the elevator with her confidant 'I-just-won-the-battle' smile. "Hello Mrs. Scanlon." 

Karen smiled at her friends response—the wedding was three weeks away but Eve was already trying to get used to saying Scanlon instead of Wexler, "Not yet—but soon. I can't believe I'm having a wedding—but Mary wanted to see one of her boys get married in a church and since Joe and Gabby went to a courthouse down there I figured Frank and I could have a wedding. Won't hurt anything." She looked over at her and noticed her attitude was different for the first time in months, "And what are you grinning about?"

"I just got talking to Alan and he said he sees no reason I can't take a full work load—now I just have to find my dear husband and Chris and rub their noses in it," she laughed as she grabbed the file she had wanted earlier.

"They are just trying to make sure you don't over do it Eve—and you have a tendency to do just that."

"I know, but it's been nine months since I had my accident and five since I left the hospital—I should be allowed to have a full workload."

"But you're also two months into a high risk pregnancy—don't forget that."

"Believe me—nobody is going to let me forget that until this little one comes out safe and healthy," she spoke while rubbing her stomach casually. "So are you going to let me see this patient or wrestle the file away from me?" she grinned as Karen just laughed at her and walked away. "Good answer."

* * *

"I'm sorry—he got to his car before I could catch him—he dropped the money though and I got the license plate number," said the man in the suit as he handed Alison the bag. 

"Thanks," she smiled as she took it from him and then took a better look at him. His hair was longer than one would expect it to be—at least it seemed that way to her. He also seemed to not quiet fit into it perfectly—like in reality he'd be something else—not a businessman. His eyes—they were pulling to her—almost calling to her in a way, "I'm sorry—I didn't get your name."

"Oh, I'm sorry—I'm Caleb Morley," he said as he shook her hand.

* * *

"I'm going to get the nurses to do draw some blood on you, Mr. Fountain, and then I'll come back to see how you're doing in a bit," smiled Eve as she walked out of his room and directly into what felt like a brick wall—except for it was her husband. "Hi," she said as she leaned up and kissed his cheek—patting it twice before walking back towards the desk. 

"What do you think you're doing woman?" he said in a low tone.

"Working. Colleen—Mr. Fountain needs blood drawn—I want a CBC, but tell the lab to run a Blood Smear if anything looks abnormal. Thanks," she smiled and then turned to Ian. "I talked to Alan and he said I was fine to work a regular shift."

"Having to deal with that crazy family of his has obviously pushed him over the edge."

"Just accept that you've lost the battle and we will once again be butting heads from the time we come to work until we go home to our son."

"I'll accept I lost the battle but never the war," he grinned.

* * *

"Caleb Morley, well thank you very much for chasing that robber down. It definitely wasn't necessary," said Lucy as she stared at him—trying her hardest to read him. 

"I started my business from the ground up—I know how it is in the beginning, every cent counts on whether you can continue on for another month."

"That's very true. Thank you Mr. Morley."

"Please, call me Caleb."

"I'm sorry—Caleb. Listen, I'm sure the police will be here soon. Can I get you some coffee until they get here?" she asked.

"Yes, that'd be nice," he spoke as he went into the building.

"Are you coming, Lucy?"

"Yes, I'll be in there in just a minute," she smiled as she watched Alison go in and then began to make a phone call.

* * *

Jasmine smiled as she closed her eyes and realized who it was that Lucy was calling. She already had guessed who the officer to take Alison and Caleb's statement would be—but Lucy, Lucy's thoughtfulness for a good friend was going to make Jasmine wish she had a front row seat inside that little bakery. Oh well—she just closed her eyes and imagined the past—no matter who they were—inside and out—the conversation would somehow drift to the same tone as before, she could feel it. 

Livvie grinned at watching Eve walk off with Ian explaining their voices in the same normal banter that defined their marriage. "Livvie Locke," she answered the phone.

"Livvie—it's Lucy. Listen—I don't want to bother you but I was coming by the bakery and Alison just got robbed."

"Oh my God—is she ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine—some weird businessman got the license plate number. She doesn't want me to call Jamal, but I was wondering—if you aren't too busy—."

"If I'll come sit with her? Sure—let me just tell the arguing doctors on duty where I'm going and then I'll be right there," she said as she hung up the phone and followed the loud talking coming from the direction of the doctor's lounge.

* * *

"I need to go call and check on Christina—will you be ok by yourself?" asked Lucy as Alison nodded and she slipped out. 

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked Caleb.

"No—why don't you go in the back and start your baking muffins or whatever it is you need to do."

"I think I'm just going to call it a day early—I'm not really sure I can handle being in here all day. I'll be right back," she said as she went into the back to put away some of the stuff she'd pulled out earlier. Alison was in the back for a few minutes when she heard a loud noise and shouting out front. She ran out to see a police officer trying to handcuff Caleb. "Hey—what's going on?"

"I wanted to take him down for questioning ma'am, but he wouldn't go peacefully," spoke Rafe as he grabbed Caleb's arms tighter.

"He didn't do anything—he chased the guy you're looking for."

"You don't know that—he could be an accomplice?"

"And why would the accomplice return all the money?" she asked matter-of-factly as Caleb got out of his grasp and moved away from him.

"Well—I—uhm."

All thoughts and conversations ended when Livvie stormed into the building, "Alison—I got here as soon as Lucy called me—is everything ok?" she asked as she looked at her friend and then the other man in the room. "You."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I think I have some explaining to do with my disappearance in writing. It's good news, don't worry—I got a job! WOO HOO! Yep—I did, but that also means the story will be written super slowly—I'm not like Gracie who can actually write on the computer at work ;) Not that she does that at all.

So, bear with me as I figure out when I get a chance to write and post—believe me, I do figure out these scenes on the drive home from work—I'm just so tired of being on the computer when I get home I don't want to write it out, so it stays in my head until I'm ready to write.

Livvie712, the story is in December 2002—I keep forgetting to say that.

Dodgebart—as for your question, yeah—something like that. ;)

Until next time—ya'll are the best!—PCGirl.

* * *

"Excuse me?" asked Caleb as he stared back at Livvie.

"Are you deaf? I asked who are you," she snapped.

He decided not to argue with the fact that that wasn't what she said and just smiled, taking her hand and kissing it, "I'm Caleb Morley—and you are?"

"Livvie Locke," she said, struggling to get her hand out of his. "What are you doing here?"

"Livvie," said Alison calmly while placing a hand on her shoulder. "He chased after the robber and saw his license plate before he took off. What are you doing here?"

"Lucy called—she thought you might want me here for support during questioning."

"Thanks," she smiled as they took a seat. "So do you want my statement, Officer Kovich, or are you just going to interrogate an innocent man?"

"Sorry. Let's start this over—what time did the perpetrator enter your building?"

"About 7:15 this morning—I was in the back preparing to bake when I heard the bell ring on the door to tell me someone had entered. I came in and that's when he pulled a gun on me—I went along with what he asked for and then he ran. That's when Mr. Morley—I mean Caleb—came to the door, being pushed by the man and then ran after him."

"Ok, now I need to know—if you and Mr. Morley have ever met previously to today."

"Excuse me, but what does this have to do with anything?" questioned Caleb.

"It's just a simple question—do you have a problem with the question sir?"

"I don't know if he does, but I do," snapped Livvie as she got up in his face. "You are treating my friend like a criminal and this man here as if he's an accomplice to the crime. Now do you have the license plate number?" she asked as Rafe shook his head.

"It was a New York plate, AWC381. Here's my business card—you need anything else call me," said Caleb as he walked out.

"There—and now if you don't mind us—I'm going to help my friend close shop for the day. If anything comes up I can trust you to call us."

"Uhm—yeah," said a confused Rafe as he turned and left.

* * *

"I'm thinking of just getting a salad today," said Alison as she sat down in a seat at the Recovery Room. "What about you Livvie?"

"You are unbelievable," she said in a hushed tone. "So far today you've been robbed and questioned by an out of line police officer and all you are thinking of is what to have for lunch?"

"Will you keep your voice down?" she said through gritted teeth. "Besides—what was that look for earlier."

"What look?"

"The one you gave that Caleb guy—I've seen that look on you once before Livvie—did you?"

"NO!" she yelled and noticed people glancing her way. "I—that was a one time thing when everything was so stressful. I told you I wouldn't do that to him again and I won't and I haven't. How can you have so little faith in me, Alison?"

"I'm sorry—it was wrong. It was just you acted like you've seen him before."

"Well, I didn't and I haven't. So when are you going to tell Jamal?"

"I'm not—there's already enough strain on the relationship."

"But this—this might help you get back on solid ground, Ali. You just can't not tell him."

"Yes I can, and if you tell him I'm taking back your Christmas present and buying you a bag of coal instead."

"Ok, fine—no mystery men or current men in general will be discussed at lunch," she laughed.

* * *

Alison walked into the apartment and saw the message light flashing. She and Livvie had ended up going shopping to get their mind off the morning's dealings so maybe some news had come from the robbery she thought as she hit the button.

_Jamal, it's me—Valerie. I'm sure you don't really care but the Hartman's called—Hope had a checkup yesterday and everything was fine. Just thought some part of you might care how your daughter was doing._

She rolled her eyes—Jamal wouldn't admit it, but the cracks in their relationship started with her last year—when she just randomly showed up out of the blue saying that Jamal was the father. Alison still thanked whoever it was that after that made him find out about Gabby being his sister—little Hope would have never had a fighting chance if she hadn't received Gabby's kidney. But now—now Valerie felt it was her mission to call Jamal and give him updates about Hope. That wasn't the part that bothered Alison—what bothered her was the guilt trip Valerie would give it Jamal happened to be home.

"Not this time, Valerie," she said as she hit the erase button and went to put away her packages before making something up for dinner.

* * *

_You_—that's what she'd said to the stranger. Not who was he or what was he doing there, but just _You_. What did she mean by that? These were the thoughts Livvie had as she pulled her car up to the small little white house near the river that her and Jack were renting and had been in for a year—except for that month last summer when she'd stayed at the Lighthouse with her Dad and Lucy.

She shook off those thoughts also as she took out her packages. It was in the past and she knew who and where she belonged—and that was here with Jack. Who just magically falls for someone they've met once? Nobody—because love isn't magic—it's gradual, and you learn to take and love the person as a whole—not just the good parts or just the bad parts.

The front door opened as she tried to mess with her key and she smiled up at Jack, "Hi," she said, reaching up and giving him a kiss.

"Hi—what's all this?"

"I went shopping with Ali—she had a bad morning and needed to get away from everything."

"Jamal didn't say they had a fight or anything," he said as he tried to grab a bag and she snatched it back from him.

"Nuh uh—this one is off limits, Jack Ramsey," she laughed. "This had nothing to do with Jamal—it was something with the Bakery."

"Is she ok?"

"Yeah—she just, uh, had a scare."

"A scare?"

She sighed loudly, "She was robbed. But it's ok—they recovered the money. But she doesn't want to tell Jamal, so if you do I'll toss this present in the fire."

Jack smiled at her, "Yes, ma'am."


	4. Chapter 4

Jasmine stood at the overlook and thought of the two couples she knew didn't need her help. Fate seemed to hand them exactly what they needed and when they needed it.

She'd come along before years after Eve had passed away, but was already looking forward to getting to know both her and see how Ian was different with his soul mate still by his side.

Lucy—she was the exact same except it seemed like she almost wished she had more family nearby to spend time with and put her nose where, at times, it didn't belong. She grinned at how Lucy might react to getting to meet Rafe face to face. From what she'd heard before their family bond seemed to come so easily the first time, and she was pretty certain that even without the slayer intuition that it'd be just as easy this time.

* * *

"That's a wrap," smiled Eve as she put down the last chart and grabbed the clipboard to sign herself out. She could feel his eyes on her and barely glanced to her left to see him standing there. "What is it Thornhart?" she asked without looking up.

"I was noticing how tired you look--you wore yourself out today."

"I did not," she said, stomping her foot like a child. "I mean I might have pushed myself just a bit, but I'm fine--really," she said as a yawn came out of nowhere.

"Yeah, sure," he grinned as he signed out also and put an arm around her shoulder. "So if I promise to take you home and cook your favorite meal while you take a relaxing bath you wouldn't want any of that?"

"I said I was fine—if I turned down an offer like that I'd be crazy," she grinned. "Now why don't we get our son out of daycare and head on home to be a family?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Lucy knocked on the door and let herself in, seeing Kevin sitting at his desk finishing some paperwork, "Hi."

"Hey," he said, getting up and giving her a quick kiss. "I'm almost done here and then we can head on home. What did you to today?"

"Oh, same old thing—did a little shopping at Wyndham's and met up with Don later for lunch. But before that—I had the strangest encounter."

"When don't you?" he laughed at his wife's perception and feelings over the smallest thing or random person on the street.

"Alison was robbed today—and everything was fine, this stranger actually chased down the robber and got the money back."

"Thank goodness for strangers like him."

"Yeah, but there was something about him Kevin—his aura was just screaming at me. Like it was talking to me—as if it knew me in some past life or universe."

"You and your universes, Lucy," he laughed. "If they ever really start talking to you—then ask them if in their universe they know the meaning of life."

"I'm serious, Kevin."

"So am I," he smiled as he closed the file he had opened and went to grab his coat and lock up.

* * *

Eve walked out into the living room after her relaxing bath and smiled at the scene before her. Danny was sitting on the floor playing—Ian's medical bag sitting open next to him, his stethoscope in his son's ears and Danny holding a reflex hammer in one hand and a tongue depressor in the other.

She sighed at the thought of everything that had happened in the past seven months. It was July 11th when she'd woken up in the hospital bed—

_Where was she? Was she in the hospital? How long had she been here? The last thing she remembered was she was on her way to pick up the tickets for the trip—the road was icy and she slid—and then there was nothing. It couldn't have been that long, could it? _

_She saw Ian sitting in the corner, his head down and hands interlocked behind his neck. She tried to speak but her throat was so dry that not even a squeak came out. Maybe if she made a noise with her hands it'd get his attention. She grabbed the blanket hard and yanked it upwards—the sound of the blanket moving against the hospital mattress did the trick and she now had his full attention. She smiled as he jumped up and ran over to her, taking her pulse and speaking quickly._

"_Oh God Eve. I was sure I'd never see your eyes again—I couldn't—Danny. I love you."_

_She smiled bigger at his reaction—he looked like he hadn't slept in over a week—had she really been unconscious that long? She saw a water pitcher nearby and motioned for it, opening her mouth to try and let him know she needed water._

_He poured her a paper cup full and handed it to her, telling her to drink it slowly and not all at once._

"_I love you, Thornhart," she rasped out—surprised at the sound of her voice. "What day is it?"_

"_Thursday."_

_Four days? The 31st of March had been a Sunday, right? That couldn't be right—Ian looked too worn for her to only be out of it for just four days. "Is it still April?"_

_Ian sat down on the bed and took her hand, "It's July—11th, I think."_

"_July? I've been unconscious for over three months?" she asked, the first part coming out clear, but the rest barely escaping her lips._

"_Yes, but you're awake and it's all going to be ok," he said giving her a kiss on the forehead._

He was right—it had been ok, and a few weeks later they let her leave—partially because she seemed to have no damage to her system, and the unspoken reason that it's true what they say—doctor's make the worst patients.

She leaned down and picked Danny up, "Hey—what have you got there."

"Ahhh," was his reply as he tried to place the tongue depressor in her mouth and she agreed to play along. He stared thoughtfully into her mouth before removing it and smiling, "All better."

"Well thank you for the diagnosis, Dr. Thornhart. I hope you don't charge me too much for that diagnosis," she smiled as she gave him a kiss and sat him back down on the floor. "What are we going to do with him?" she asked Ian.

He laughed at what popped in his head, "We can always put him in med school now—he can be studying the human anatomy while his peers are learning the alphabet."

* * *

Lucy knew Kevin was just playing with her about the whole _feeling _she got before, but she was serious. Her senses never let her down when it came to anything—even when Julie came back last year Lucy could feel it. Well, maybe she didn't know it was Julie exactly, but she knew someone from the past was nearby. Of course her fears slipped away when Christina walked down as the flower girl for her wedding.

Christina—she had began to give up hope she'd ever see her precious face ever again. But Julie had a heart—and when she began to fear her health was fading too fast, and there was no turning back she gave her daughter back to the only woman who loved her more than she did.

Lucy had her family again—and for that she was more than grateful. Before Christina she had done research on where the Coe's came from and ended up with very little information. Besides her original last name being Kovich she knew that some of her long distance cousins had come to America sometime in the early 80's, but other than that—she didn't know if they even really existed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Melody--I thought to myself after I logged off "did I attach that file?" LOL. Sorry--and yes, seems to be working fine now.

Everyone--this is a short chapter, but hopefully it'll be the last one. Ya'll enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

Jasmine sat down on the bench and took in everything around her—remembering where she'd been and how she'd gotten here. She had gone through that tunnel of light as Tara had—wondering if everyone else was doing the same or it was just them. After the tunnel her life began again—it had taken her a few weeks to realize it was right around the time Caleb married the original Olivia and her life continued on from there. 

This time she didn't have her sisters to continue the journey with—and over time she came to realize why. Before she had only known the present—what was happening then, but this time she knew it all—the past, present, and future—so it was as if they were combined into one being.

She had kept track of where the Morley's and Kovich's went during the next century and half—she also knew that neither family had looked back on Daia—to them it might be a part of their beginnings, but from the day that Roderick died the words slayer and vampire vanished from their vocabulary.

* * *

He walked into the loft apartment he'd rented near the waterfront—it'd called to him when the realtor first told him over the phone—and when he saw it a few weeks later, well that sealed the deal.

Today had been—interesting. The name Kovich, he wondered if it was any relation to the history of that name in his family. He'd ask Officer Kovich another time—if the man didn't recognize the last name Morley already.

His great-great-grandfather had been an idiot to give up everything for love. The power of immortality—the possibilities it could bring him—that what was had him return to the small Romanian village of Daia nearly a century and a half later in search of that power. But he'd hit a dead end before he even began. The Morley name was just a local legend around there—and his namesake, a hero for choosing the beautiful maiden for a bride instead of carrying on what they saw as a curse.

This Caleb had been somewhat of a hero today—helping Alison out with the robber. He smiled at the thought of her friend, Livvie—something was pulling him towards her already and he had no clue.

His mind clicked to a word that was not a part of his vocabulary—destiny. "Don't be silly, Morley—destiny doesn't exist," he laughed at himself as he poured a drink. So what if he'd been pulled to this town for no reason—or this loft apartment for that matter, he knew the truth, your destiny is what you make of it—not something that is written in the stars before you are born.

* * *

Jasmine stood at the edge of the docks and looked out at the water before her—thinking about this Caleb and wondering how it was possible that a man could both be named after a person from over a century ago and look completely identical to him. She'd avoided being around Caleb before, but in the end had allowed herself to have a friendship with him—he didn't know her, didn't recognize her from any other person on the street.

She'd attended his funeral—his father had buried him in the Morley Cemetery—placing the Morley ring on his finger before it was lowered into the ground. Roderick was soon taken down by adversaries and that was the end to the Morley vampires, but not the Morley's altogether.

Caleb and Olivia had had children in their lifetime—one being a boy to continue on the family name, but not the family legacy—not like Alex would have done if their world had originally continued.

She shook off the old memories of the life from before—it was gone, a thing of the past, but hopefully—with a little help from her she saw the couples from before uniting and finding that happiness all over again.

* * *

"You're an idiot, Kovich," said Rafe to himself as he walked into the small apartment he'd rented and began to get out of his police uniform. First loosening his tie so he could slip it off and then putting his gun in a safe place. His whole work day had been horrid—his mind continually wandering back to how he'd treated that shop owner. He should have been more comforting and listening to her description—not harsh like he was. 

It wasn't her that rubbed him the wrong way; it was the other man in the room. Morley? Yeah—that was it. Rafe knew why he'd become a cop—he wanted to protect others, his mother had told him once that it was in his blood to protect those who needed to be protected.

He stopped his normal routine at hearing his mother's words play in his head again, as if she'd just told him yesterday—_it's in your blood to protect Rafe. And you can't change what's in your blood._

The name Morley had seemed familiar to him this morning—and he'd denied that the hairs on the nape of his neck had stood up, but he knew they did, it just wasn't until now that he realized where he'd heard that name before.

* * *

From the docks Jasmine had walked down towards the warehouses and stopped at warehouse 13—it was empty and dusty. She was a little bit sad to know that the gym would never take place this time, but she was ok with that. As she walked in through the open door she smiled and said out loud, "It's ok, because I know two of the greatest love stories I know are about to happen all over again." 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm so far two for two today--that means, if you don't know, I updated Broken! Hehehe--the link should be back in my bio page sometime today so I ask if you have the time--go read it. It's my "baby" but you don't have to be gentle--though I prefer constructive criticism over "this story sucks". It's not that much of a Swordy.

Dodgebart--thank you for the sweet e-mail you sent. I love Chris and am working up a story for him in this story in my head at the moment--give me a chapter or two and you'll see him. I promise.

Everyone enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

Rafe walked into Just Heavenly and a sense of calmness filled him—the smells of Christmas time—cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg—reminded him of his mother's kitchen when he was a child and watched her bake.

"I'll be right there," called Alison from the back. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked around the corner with a smile to greet her customer—the smile left her face when she saw who it was. "What do you want?"

Rafe gave her a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his neck, "I was wanting to come to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. It was completely unprofessional and against the oath I took as an officer."

"Thanks, but I'm not the one you should be apologizing to—have you talked to Mr. Morley? You were about to burn him at the stake for helping me out."

The name made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end but he brushed it off and tried to keep the friendly demeanor, "No, not yet."

"Well are you? Or do you just want him to think of you as a complete ass for the rest of your life?"

"I'll say something to him soon—I promise. So how about we start over and act like yesterday never happened? I'm really a nice guy when you get to know me."

"Sure," she said as she watched him grin and walk out of the bakery and come back in. "Hi. Welcome to Just Heavenly—I'm Alison."

"And I'm Rafe," he smiled and then they both started laughing nervously.

----------------

Livvie tapped her fingers on the table at the Recovery Room—Jack was obviously not coming in for lunch so she got up to go back to the hospital and grab a bite at the cafeteria.

Her thoughts were somewhere else and her head down searching through her purse so she didn't even see him walk through the door or Frank's call at her to watch where she was going, but when she ran into him and her purse went scattering along the floor she came immediately back to reality.

"I'm sorry—I'm so clumsy," she said, keeping her head down and then a hand covering hers she looked up into the blue eyes looking back at her. "Caleb."

"Yes, you remembered," he grinned as he felt like he could see beyond her brown ones and into her soul that seemed to cry that it was missing something.

"Of course I did," she said as she finished rounding everything up and stood up, straightening the black jacket she had on. "You helped my friend Alison yesterday, of course I'll remember your name."

"Just doing my job. Can you stay for lunch?"

"I—I shouldn't. I was actually going back to work."

"Oh come on—I won't bite," he grinned.

----------------

"Hold on," spoke Caleb to Livvie as his cell phone began ringing. "Yeah? Really? No I didn't forget—I just got—sidetracked," he looked at her with a grin. "I'll be at the office in ten minutes—keep the investors on the phone until I get there."

"Business calls?"

"Yeah, I didn't realize the time," he sighed as he got out of his chair.

"Really? Oh my god," she said as she looked at her watch and realized they'd been sitting and talking for hours. "I've got to get to the hospital. It was nice to talk to you though," she said as she smiled and went running out the door. She froze when she saw Jack standing there, "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said, his words cold and harsh as if he'd just found her cheating on him again.

Livvie could see his emotions and thoughts and tried to go at this with the clear conscience she had, "I was waiting on you and as I got up to leave Caleb showed up."

"Who is Caleb?"

"The man that helped Alison yesterday. Remember?"

"Right," said Jack as Caleb walked out of the restaurant and gave a nod to Livvie while still walking. "So you just talked to a complete stranger for two hours, Livvie?"

"It's not like that. He's new to town and I was just telling him of places to hold business functions at," she said with a shrug.

"Business locations?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello—he's a business man," she said sarcastically. "Why are you acting like this?"

Jack shrugged at the question and began to walk a circle around Livvie slowly, "Just seems odd you getting to be all friendly with a stranger. Like last summer—."

"You just love to bring that up, don't you?"

"Livvie wait," said Jack as he watched her begin to walk off.

She spun on her heels quickly, "No. I need to get to work—I'm already late and don't have time to have unfounded accusations thrown at me." And with that she went stomping off.

----------------------

"Hey—you already grab something to eat?" said Jamal as he looked up from the bike he was working on.

"Hmm? No, I forgot—I did see Livvie though, and then managed to stick my foot in my mouth."

He grinned and went back to work on the bike, "How'd you manage that?"

"She was talking to that Caleb guy and I just went all crazy on her—bringing up last summer. You know—the guy did a favor helping catch the robber from the bakery yesterday—and I just turned it all around and made it look like Livvie was going to start cheating again," he said as he stopped to see Jamal had gotten up off the floor and was looking at Jack. "What?"

"You said the bakery got robbed."

"No, I didn't," he said as he went back towards the far side of the shop.

"Yes, you did Jack. Ali's bakery got robbed? When?"

"Wow—I'm two for two on sticking my foot in my mouth today, aren't I? It happened yesterday—but she got all the money back. I—I wasn't supposed to tell you."

"You're right, you shouldn't have—Ali should have though," he said as he wiped the sweat off his brow and threw the wrench he had on the ground. He needed to get this bike finished, but once it was he needed to talk to Ali and see what was causing their lack of honesty with each other.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: The note asks if the roses still bloom in the winter. This is in reference back to Chapter 62 of Trinity where Livvie found the rose bushes blooming when it was just barely Spring. I think you can guess by the names what the "boys" reply to each other.

Back to the real story of ADRT—not the one that the Awians were shown. ;) If you don't know what I'm talking about then don't worry—it was a joke scene I shared with them. Something that will never happen. I've gone too far to turn it all around just like that.

Until next time—ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

--------------------

Lucy was pacing the area in front of Kevin's office waiting for him to get back, "Come on, Doc. Where are you?"

"Lucy?" he asked as he held a folder in his hands and walked towards her. He gave her a kiss before asking the inevitable question, "Is something wrong?"

"How can you ask that? Do I look like I'm ok? Do I look like I'm not about to lose it?" she asked quickly.

"Ok, let's get you into the office and sit down," he said as he unlocked the door and she went in. "Do you want me to get you some tea?"

"No. I can't drink at a time like this. Look what came in the mail today," she said as she handed over the letter. "I tried to act like it was nothing—I had Don go with me on a shopping trip to Wyndham's and though I bought this really cute outfit for Karen and Frank's wedding I still am uneasy. What if what she said isn't the truth? What if she really wants to come back and take her from us? I can't lose Christina, Doc. I don't have much family—and if I have to give her up again it'll kill me."

"Hey—hey. It's going to be ok," he said as he came over and pulled her into a hug.

------------------

"Jamal. Hey—what are you doing here?" smiled Alison as she watched him walk in the bakery. She came around and gave him a hug but when his arms didn't go around her she looked up and took notice of the look on his face, "Is something wrong?"

"Jack told me something earlier. He said yesterday you got robbed. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I—it was no big deal. The money was returned and nobody was hurt. The cops are looking into and when they find the person that did they'll pay. Besides—it was probably just some silly teenager looking for a good laugh."

"That's not the point," he said as he pushed her away and turned in a circle. "I thought we were making progress—to get back to where we were before. Was I wrong? Do I matter so little to you that you don't even tell me when something like this happens?"

"It's not like that Jamal—I just didn't want you to worry," she said as she tried to reach out to him but he moved.

"I'm sorry—but did I stop being your boyfriend? Because unless I did I don't see any reason that I'm not supposed to worry about you."

"Ok. I get it—I should have told you," she said as a regular customer walked in. "We'll talk later?"

"Yeah," he said quietly as he turned and left.

----------------------

Caleb clicked the intercom off from his long teleconference and got up to walk around and stretch his legs. He turned at the knock on the door, "Come in."

"Caleb—an officer came by while you were in your meeting he left you this note," said his secretary as she passed it over and left.

He unfolded the note slowly and was surprised at the words on the small piece of paper.

_A face art.hot. trandafir liniştit sînge în iarnă?_

The question that had been on the edge of his thoughts were answered and he grinned at the question at hand while reaching for the phone and dialing the PCPD. "Hello. May I speak with Officer Rafe Kovich?"

He waited until he heard him speak on the other end and spoke. "Înăuntru răspuns la spre al tău întrebare. Da , roşu pentru Tara."

Rafe grinned at hearing the words, surprised that he understood it immediately, "Şi roz pentru Elena."

"Shall we meet later tonight? There's an overlook of the city. I think we have much to talk about," grinned Caleb.

"Sounds good. My shift is over in a couple of hours. I'll see you then," said Rafe.

------------------

"So you'll call her? And make sure she was telling the truth?"

"I'm sure she is—nothing is going to happen to Christina, ok?"

"Maybe you're right—maybe what she said was true—she just wanted us to know she got through everything."

"See. Like I said—I'll call her after I'm done with my next patient," he said as he kissed her lightly and went back into his office.

Chris walked from around the corner and stared at Kevin's door and then at Lucy walking away. He'd walked up to the conversation at the mention of Christina and his mind was turning as to what Lucy was all rattled by.

"Hey Ramsey," said Eve as she came up beside him and watched him jump. "Edgy there Chris or were you snooping your nose where it doesn't belong?"

"Huh? No—I just saw Lucy in a tizzy about something."

"Well, that's nothing new—she's normally upset about something," she laughed as they began walking together.

"It had to do with Christina—and making sure someone was telling the truth—," he said as his thoughts wandered off again.

"Okay. You know what you need Chris? A girlfriend. I mean if you had one then your spare time wouldn't be spent listening in on Kevin and Lucy's conversations," she grinned.

"Yeah, right," he said as he put down his file at the nurses station, signed himself out and walked off.

"What was that about?" asked Ian as he came up next to his wife.

"I have no clue. I think that was Chris—I gave him a good chance to take a jab at something I said and he didn't even look at the bait," she shot him a frown before breaking into a grin and kissing Ian.

--------------------

She was walking on her way over to the Recovery Room to pick up dinner when she saw Livvie walking in also, "Livvie."

"Alison, hey. How was business today?" she asked, running her hair through her hair.

"Fine. Until Jamal came in—turns out Jack told him about my little robbery yesterday."

"I'm sorry. I don't think he'd ever had told him if—."

"If what Livvie?"

"I had lunch with Caleb today—Jack saw it and was getting jealous. I had to explain to him who he was before we went all spastic on the guy."

"Oh. So in order to cover your butt my relationship that's still trying to recover from last year and Hurricane Valerie has to take one for the gipper."

"Well, maybe you should have told Jamal the truth last night and you would have never been in this mess in the first place."

"Maybe if you hadn't slept around on Jack last summer he wouldn't have a reason to be wary of your random lunches with complete strangers." The words were out of Alison's mouth before she even thought them. "Livvie—I'm sorry—I didn't mean that."

"Like hell you didn't. I've apologized to everyone for my actions. There are some people that are so high on the Sainthood pedestal that anything they do they get forgiven for—I see that I'm not one of those people," she yelled before turning and walking off. Leaving Alison standing there trying to figure out where they all went wrong.

------------------

Jasmine sat on a park bench as she watched Rafe walk up the steps to the overlook—she'd just smiled and nodded as both him and Caleb walked up separately. She'd been waiting for this meeting for what seemed like forever—and it truly had been forever. She wanted to get closer to the conversation but was scared they'd see her and ask questions—so she just closed her eyes and imagined all the other conversations she knew that had happened before between the two of them—she was sure this one wouldn't be any different.

"I was wondering if you'd chickened out," said Caleb, not turning his back when he heard the footsteps behind him.

"Nope. Just had to finish up some paperwork at the station. So I guess now I know what my instincts were telling me yesterday."

"Instincts?" chuckled Caleb. "And here I just thought you were always a pain the ass."

"Why'd you come here? To Port Charles?"

Caleb shrugged, "I don't know. Something pulled me here—figured it'd be a good place to continue my business. Since I can't continue my plans like I had hoped."

"Like you had hoped?"

"It's not a myth—I've seen it for my own eyes. I saw the rose bushes you spoke of in your note even."

"You actually went to Daia," he grinned.

"Like you never have thought of seeing where you ancestry started—why when you hear the name Morley the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Don't tell me they didn't yesterday."

"Maybe they did," shrugged Rafe. "And what did you learn there?"

"I learned that there's nothing left. That because of the idiotic choice my namesake made that there are no more vampires and it's just a legend."

"I don't think it was idiotic at all—he made the right decision. Love is the greatest emotion known to man. It can make a man want to change his ways—it can destroy an empire. Look at what it did to the city of Troy."

"Another legend—though I doubt the story of the Morley-Kovich's and their end will ever compare to that."

"Depends on the people. Besides—it looks like Port Charles will be getting it's own version of the Morley-Kovich legacy because I don't see myself leaving this town anytime soon. Do you?"

"Nah. I'm kinda starting to like it here. The people—," he said he took a look at Rafe. "They take a bit to get to used to, but it's not too bad here."

"Then I guess we'll just have to live in the same space—destiny has intertwined our familes once again."

"Looks like it," said Caleb quietly.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: And now back to your regular scheduled reading. :) Everyone enjoy! Until next time--I know I always say this, but you all really are the best--PCGirl.

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"Is something the matter?" asked Ian as he walked over to where Eve was holding Danny and staring at the window as the sky threatened to begin snowing.

"I was thinking of Chris today—how lonely he seemed. He seemed to be holding hope that Julie is alive."

"Well, that's Ramsey. I've never known him to hold onto a lot of hope though," he said as he kissed the back of her head and ran his hand over Danny's back who was almost asleep.

She turned and looked at Ian who could finally see the tears in her eyes, "I could have died in that car wreck, Ian. How would you have moved on without me? Could you have done it? What about Danny? Would you have told him all the crazy stories about me?"

"Hey—shhh," he said as he wiped the small tears that were beginning to fall. "You lived—you lived and now you're bringing another child of our love into this world. Nobody has to tell Danny stories about his mother because you're going to be there to tell him everything when he's older.

"As for me—losing you would have been the hardest thing I would ever had to go through. I really don't know how I would have gotten through it—but I'm sure you would have somehow reminded me I have to live for our son. But I don't have to worry about any of that because you are here, and you're my wife—not just for one night, but for always," he said as he placed his hand on the side of her face and then leaned down for a deep kiss.

-------------------

Jasmine watched him sitting quietly in the corner at the Recovery Room with his laptop open—he was searching for something and she just sighed. He'd never found true happiness before—but she loved Chris more than anything because he'd been right there ready to raise her daughter when she felt she wasn't fit to.

She wanted to go over there and give him a hug and tell him it'd be ok, but right now he didn't know her from the patients he saw all day but never took the time to get to know. It'd be ok though—everyone was getting their happy ending this time—maybe for Chris Ramsey it would happen also.

--

Chris sighed as the results again came up empty—he'd been thinking of locations Julie had mentioned she'd love to live before. Maybe it was a happy place she'd gone to find her final peace. But so far nothing had come up—maybe that was because she really wasn't gone. Maybe she was alive somewhere still—had received a miracle and beaten all odds. "Don't be crazy, Ramsey—miracles don't happen," he said to himself as he closed his laptop and got up to leave.

--

"What is up with Ramsey lately?" asked Frank as he stood next to Karen behind the bar and Lucy waited for her order to be ready and they watched him leave.

"I don't know—maybe he's just having trouble getting into the holiday spirit," replied Karen as she heard an order being called up and went to get it.

"You two have this beautiful aura around you," smiled Lucy as she watched his eyes follow Karen until she'd gone into the kitchen. "I mean you're so happy when you're near each other and I can just tell you're going to be together forever," smiled Lucy. "It's good to see love like that is still in the world."

"Thanks, Lucy," he said as Karen came back out with two orders.

"I think this is yours, Lucy. The cook said the names were confusing and he might have mixed it up," said Karen as she handed one bag to Lucy and set the other on the counter in front of her.

"Names? Who has a name that sounds like Coe?" laughed Lucy as she peeked in her bag and it seemed right to her. She was looking down and didn't even see the blonde haired man walking up to the counter.

"Hi, I have an order to pick up. Name is Kovich," Rafe said as he handed the money to Frank and took his food.

The name made Lucy's head pop up and she watched him leave. "I'll see you two later—oh my food," she said as she turned quickly to grab her food and went running after him. "Excuse me! Excuse me! Sir!" she called as she went running after him as well as she could in her designer heels.

Rafe turned and the sight of the woman running towards him made him want to smile, "Can I help you?"

She finished catching up to him and gave out a breath before she began to speak, "I know this is really odd, I mean you don't know me from Eve. Well, you don't know Eve either, but you know what I mean—right? You said your last name was Kovich right? My ancestors were Kovich's—they were from this little village in Romania. Daia—is that right? Yeah that's it. Is there a chance we're related? I mean it's a long shot—but I believe in destiny and all that stuff and just yesterday I was wishing I had more family and now—here you are."

Rafe laughed at this woman that he barely knew and was holding hope for family to be nearby. He would have said no if she hadn't said Daia—but he couldn't deny the fact that they probably were, "My name is Rafe Kovich, and my mother move us from Daia when I was a young child."

"Oh my God—we're cousins," she said as she jumped and hugged him. "I'm sorry—did I ever tell you my name? It's Lucy—Lucy Coe-Collins," she smiled as she backed off of the hug.

"Yes, I suppose we are cousins—nice to meet you Lucy."

--------------------

Jasmine had walked out and sat on the bench outside the Recovery Room and could hear the happiness in Lucy's voice as she continued to ramble to Rafe. Rafe and Lucy's relationship was always something special before, and she had a feeling it'd be just as special this time.

She closed her eyes and a bigger grin appeared on her face. Tonight Rafe and Lucy's relationship wasn't the only one that took a big step to being the same as before.

----------------------

Livvie sat there at the edge of the river—it had been hours since she got here and just sat and quietly cried. First for her and Jack and then for how different her and Alison were. Why couldn't she see that she was sorry for her mistake? Sorry that she'd even been interested in someone else other than Jack for a split second. It'd been a mistake and she'd begged for forgiveness for months now and was tired of asking for it anymore. The crunch of snow and leaves behind her made her turn and she saw him standing in the clearing just watching her, "Caleb—what are you doing here?" she asked as she wiped her tears away with the edge of her shirt cuff and stood up.

"I had a meeting a few hours ago and came out here to clear my head," she said as he looked upwards and then back to her. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said as she finished her pity party and stood straighter.

"That's why you're at the edge of a riverbank a week before Christmas crying?" he asked, a smirk appearing on her face.

"It's nothing—I was just thinking of the things I've done this year and wishing I could take them back."

He walked around her for a moment then began to speak, "I've learned that everything happens for a reason. It's not my place to ask what happened but maybe it happened because you aren't supposed to be close to those people that are hurting you anymore."

She laughed, "I'm the one that did the hurting. Jack never deserved what I did to him."

"Maybe he never deserved you in the first place."

"How do you know that when you barely know me yourself," she said softly.

"I know when someone is crying because they want a relationship to work and when they are trying to come up with the nerve to end it," he said as he touched the side of her face gently. "You'll be happier when you finally accept the inevitable, Olivia."

"How'd you know my name really is Olivia? Nobody calls me that," she said as she felt herself being drawn into whatever was behind those blue eyes of his.

"Just a lucky guess."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I feel like a parent on Christmas Day watching the kids go through what Santa just brought them. Sorry for the delay in stories—my muse took a vacation—not sure where she went, but all she brought back for me was this chapter. Maybe there's more in her bag of stuff—I'll have to go see. Until next time—if you are still reading this you are truly the best—PCGirl.

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Eve stood there just watching her for a minute—she was flipping through a file with frustration that was obviously growing by the second. Before she blew up at a patient she had to intervene and grabbed Livvie by the arm and pulled her back down the hall until they got in the hallway, "What are you doing Eve?"

"Giving you an intervention before you give some little old a coronary—now march!" she shouted while turning Livvie around and shoving her up the stairwell.

---------------------

He couldn't help but think she looked like a beautiful angel just sitting there amongst the quietness of the park. At first he thought snowflakes had fallen and melted on her face, but as he got closer he realized she'd been crying. "Alison?" he said softly as he came closer—startling her out of the haze she was in. "Hey—mind if I sit?"

"No, it's fine," she said as she wiped her face with her scarf. "I just needed to get out of the Bakery for a bit. I love this season," she smiled as she looked at him but he saw the smile didn't quiet reach her eyes.

"Yeah," me too, he said as she turned to look at the park before them but he realized he couldn't take his eyes off her. "So what made you so sad?"

"Oh it was nothing," she laughed a bit. "I've just got most possibly the world's worst mother. I mean she ignores me my whole life, but when her goes to hell what does she do—she thinks she'll just jump back into my life and be my best friend. The truth is though—she was never my best friend, nor was she my mom—she's just a stranger that if I'm lucky sends me a Christmas and Birthday card. I mean really—who does she think she is? A candidate for mother of the year," she shouted and stood up and paced for a minute before realizing Rafe was being very quiet and waiting to speak. "I'm sorry—I just want to tell her it's too little too late, you know?"

"No, I don't," he said softly before standing up and coming next to her in the clearing. "She sounds like she's probably up for worst parent of a lifetime, but at least you have one still—and you still have the time to change your relationship."

"What?" she said confused for a moment and then realized what he was getting at. "Oh no—Rafe—I'm sorry. Your mom—is she—?"

"Yeah, she's up there watching over me," he spoke, smiling as he looked up at the snow filled clouds. "It'll be 5 years in April. And I miss her everyday, but I have all these wonderful memories of being raised by her, and I pray everyday that those will be enough."

"I'm sorry—I'm such an idiot," she said touching his arm softly. "I thought I'd learned to think before I speak—guess I'm still a little snobbish in that fact."

"You snobbish?" he laughed as he walked in a circle around in the snow.

"Oh yeah, totally," she laughed.

"I still don't believe you, but if you say so—I guess I'll have to. Have you vented to Livvie yet about your mom?"

"No—and I'm not really sure she'll care. Something happened—maybe to just her, or maybe me also—but we're not as close as we once were. But there's still Jamal—maybe I should tell him," she said reluctantly—realizing how easy it was to talk to Rafe—still practically a complete stranger. "Thanks Rafe," she said as she gave him a hug and then a kiss on the cheek before walking off.

"Uh, yeah—your welcome," he stuttered as he watched her walk off while he was still in a daze.

---------------------

"Helping Kevin do a little spring cleaning?" asked Ian as he watched Chris jump a mile and stop going through the large desk drawer in his office.

"No—and now will you please go away? I'm busy."

"Right. And when did your name become—Kevin Collins, PhD?"

"It's not—now will you please go before we both get caught?" he asked as he kept digging through the papers.

"I'm not the one that just promised the new cleaning girl a date to let her into someone else's office. Now spill it—or maybe you'd like to explain this to Alan," he said as he reached for the phone, but Chris grabbed the receiver first.

"Fine—you want to know what I'm doing—I'll tell you—I'm trying to find out if the only woman I've ever loved is still alive. Happy now?"

"No."

---------------------

"Ok, now spill it kiddo," said Eve with a half laugh as her and Livvie walked up onto the roof of the hospital.

Livvie walked over to the edge and looked up to the stars for a minute before turning back to Eve, "How did you know it was Ian? At what moment when you were captured by Harris did you realize it was Ian you were supposed to be with and not my dad?"

Eve looked at her, wondering where this was coming from before speaking, "There was no specific moment. It was more about the whole experience and what it did to me on the inside. That's what experiences do Livvie—they change you as a person. Sometimes good—sometimes not, but you can't go on living constantly as the same person—you have to bend to the environment or you break."

"Yeah, I get that," she said quietly, hugging herself tighter.

"Can I ask where this came from?"

She spoke quietly at first but as she continued her voice and anger grew, "I've changed—a lot. And the whole time I've tried to act the same—dress the same—be the same person before last summer—before I cheated on Jack. I've apologized and agonized over it for six months now—and still it's thrown in my face every damn day."

"You have every right to be upset, Livvie. I've done stupid stuff years ago and still get reminded about it, but you've got to just let it roll off your back or else it will eat you alive."

"How can I just let it roll off my back when it's the same rerun on every channel?"

"Stop watching same stuff? Maybe it's time to find out who the real Livvie Locke is," she shrugged.

Livvie thought for a moment before she began walking quickly to the stairwell.

"Where are you going Livvie?"

"To start my new life," she smile confidently before leaving Eve alone on the rooftop.

"Oh God, Lambert—what did you just do?" asked Eve to herself.

------------------

By the time Alison got close to the apartment she was feeling better and knew Jamal would come up with ways to help her avoid Elizabeth's impromptu visit. She slowed down at seeing the new bike next to the door. Maybe they had a visitor, she thought as she opened the door to see Jamal sitting there on the couch by himself.

"Hey Spunky," he smiled as he went through the mail.

"Hey," she said quietly as she looked around and saw no one. "Whose bike is that?"

"It's mine," he smiled. "I bought it today."

-------------------

"It was rhetorical, Thornhart," he said, barely glancing up.

"Ok—so I'm going to assume that you believe Julie has contacted Kevin and Lucy—correct?"

"Yeah—I heard Lucy rambling about it yesterday."

"She does that a lot," said Ian to himself. "So why do you think Julie wants to be found?"

Chris stopped what he was doing and looked up at Ian, "I don't really care what she wants. What I want though is to wake up with someone next to me in bed that isn't just a flavor of the week. And that's what I had with Julie—and that's what you have with Eve and Kevin has with Lucy. So when is it my turn? Where's my happy ending?"

"A little jealous, are we?"

"No, just taking what is rightfully mine," he said as he found an envelope addressed to Kevin and Lucy and ran his fingers over the delicate handwriting he knew so well. "And this is it," he said as he put it in his coat pocket and slammed the drawer closed before walking past Ian without another word said between the two of them.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Apparently Jolie (coughs) makes it easier for me to rip perfectly good couples apart. LMAO! This is totally late--but here's your Birthday present Melody. Hope you like it. Viva la Jolie! LOL! Everyone please enjoy--cause if you don't I'll be heart broken. hehehe. Until next time--ya'll are the best--PCGirl.

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She walked into the Recovery Room and heads turned to see her walking towards the bar in that dark red dress—something she normally wouldn't have dared to wear, but she'd made the decision that she wasn't going to be the meek Livvie anymore, and this was just the dress to prove that to everyone.

"Jack," she said to his back as he turned and bobbled the glass he'd been holding, catching it before it crashed to the floor.

"Liv-vie," he said, his voice catching in his throat at the sight of her. "What are you dressed up for?"

"I was thinking of finding a nice tall, dark, and handsome man to sweep me off my feet," she said sarcastically—and watched his eyes turn dark.

Jack looked around and could easily count a half dozen men that were undressing her with their eyes, grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her into that back, "Is this your way of telling me you've been cheating on me?"

"Ugh, you idiot," she said as she slapped him upside the head. "I'm not cheating on you—I haven't cheated on you in months, and yet every time I think of dressing up or acting friendly to another man I've got my indiscretion thrown back into my face.

"And that's why I came here tonight—to hopefully get you to see that I've been faithful, but I can't take it anymore. Tell me you can forgive me or it's over tonight, Jack."

-----------------

"You bought a bike?" she said, repeating the words as if to comprehend it better.

"Yeah—this guy came in and was willing to make an amazing trade for mine. It was a steal—and I looked over the bike before I went along with it. It's in perfect condition—you want to go for a ride, Spunky?" he asked as he stood up, walking around the back of the couch to get his jacket.

"No," she said softly as she walked the other way around the couch and sat down, putting her head down and rubbing her temples, trying to ease off the headache that was beginning to form.

"Hey—what's wrong?" asked Jamal as he quickly came back to the couch and sat down next to her.

"It's—it's nothing," she said, shaking her head.

"Something's wrong. I know I should have talked to you about the bike first—is that it?"

"No—that's not it at all. I—I was just thinking—," she paused her thought as she looked over at Jamal, pushing her bangs out of her face before she continued to speak, not knowing where the question was coming from as she spoke it, "Do you think we will be together forever?"

-------------------

"Oh wow—that's a tough decision, Livvie."

"I'm serious, Jack," she pouted for a moment and then regained her confidence. "You keep telling me you want us to work—that we're supposed to be with each other, but you can't say those three words.

"I won't be the one that clings to your heels while crying and begging. I've done enough crying in this relationship—it stops tonight. So what is your answer?"

"Livvie—I—can't?"

"You can't what?" she yelled, becoming more angered by the second.

"I can't say I forgive you—it takes time—and it doesn't help to see you eating lunch and laughing with some random stranger."

"Ugh—his name is Caleb and I'm not even that interested in him."

"So you're interested in him?"

"Don't put words in my mouth Jack when you can't even form a sentence tonight that doesn't involve me cheating on your poor pitiful heart," she spoke, her words laced with anger. She gave Jack one more glance before turning and walking back out into the bar

and back into the chilly December night.

------------------------

"What—what type of question is that?" he asked, his voice getting slightly louder than he'd expected.

"I'm—I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"Are you having second thoughts about us, Alison?"

"I—I remember days when I couldn't wait to come home and be in your arms—in our home. It just seems lately—other things in our lives are coming between us. We aren't the same couple—the same people—as we were when we first met. We've grown—," she stopped before she finished her sentence.

"What? Apart? Was this the plan all along? Come in here and call it quits—give up on making us work again?"

"You can't make something work that's broken, Jamal. We've been naïve about this relationship since Valerie came back to town—we're broken, and it's never going to be the same. So stop lying to yourself—to each other—we're through, Jamal," she said, biting her lip as the tears began to spill down her face.

"Fine. I get the idea," he said coldly as he stood up, grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.

Alison just sat there, her head down in her lap and sniffled—trying to stop the crying. When she heard the bike start up and ran to the door and threw it open to the chilly air, "Jamal! Jamal stop!" she yelled, but he was gone and her words were only heard by her.

-----------------

Livvie's confidence was all but gone when she got to his door—what was she thinking? Was she trying to prove Jack right? No—she was here because she'd been drawn here—to him for days now, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity go by as she knocked on the door.

Caleb heard the strong knock and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. As he opened the door he stood there, and couldn't come up with anything to say, just pulled her into a deep kiss and into his apartment.

---------------

She'd been walking for an hour—the fallen tears now cold and frozen on her face. What had she done? She'd went home to talk to Jamal—to tell him that she wanted it to work, and now—now she felt alone once again in the world.

She paused on the bridge in the park and looked up to the sky. Lucy always said you could find truth in the heavens—she had nothing right now so she figured it wouldn't hurt for her to try, "Please tell me I did the right thing tonight. That it will all work out in the end."

"Alison," called a voice from the side—she jumped at hearing it—it was late, who could be out at this hour?

Rafe had seen her walking through the park a few minutes ago—worried as to why she'd be out by herself he stayed behind until he was sure he wouldn't frighten her too much. As he walked into her sight he could tell she'd been crying. "Hey—is everything ok?" he asked as he came forward.

"No," she said, feebly as she fell into his arms and he couldn't do anything but hold her tightly as she started to cry again.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hello? (taps on the computer screen) Anyone out there? LOL! I sure hope so—the muse finally decided she wanted to play with this story (she wants this completed soon is what it's really all about).

I'm sorry for the delay—as the time since the end of PC gets longer I'm having a tougher time focusing on finishing this story. I want to end it right—I want to give us all the closure that this story is supposed to have. So it's really a tough decision—rush it and make it crappy or go slow and hope the readers hang on.

Please hang on—there's not much left to the story—and the muse already knows how it's going to end. Until next time—Ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

----------------------

Livvie let herself be pulled into the kiss—it was deeper and filled with more passion that she'd ever experienced. But just as quickly as it began she pushed him away and stared up at him, "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm not sure, my love, but you seemed to be doing the kissing also."

"I was not—and don't call me that," she snarked as she walked past him and took a look at the apartment—the sleek and sharp lines of the black furniture made it seem more of a professional place than a personal home.

"Ok, then please explain to me why you came here wearing this," he said as he ran a finger up her arm and watched the goosebumps come to life against her skin. "Or is this what you always wear on cold December nights?" he chuckled to himself as he went to the bar and poured himself a drink.

"Please, you think I came here to be seduced by you?" she laughed, her insecurity creeping back to the surface.

"Then why don't you tell me why you came here," he said as he turned around and leaned against the bar.

Livvie crossed her arms and gave out a deep breath, "It's not what you think. I came here because I've been drawn to you since the first moment I saw you. And I think you've been drawn to me, or maybe I'm just being my normal irrational self."

"You—irrational? Never," mocked Caleb.

"Like you know me."

"I do—you are the type that yearns for approval in what you do. You want to be noticed, loved, understood for your actions—whether they are right or wrong. It's your way or the highway—in all aspects of life, including love.

"As for whether we are drawn together—it's just physical attraction, that's all."

"Oh that's all. And here I thought it was destiny that kept bring us together," she said as she walked towards him slowly and placed her hand over his heart—feeling the beat quicken just by her touch.

------------------

Rafe just held her—hoping his arms were warming her up—she had to be freezing. As she pulled away and he looked at her he saw how red her face was, "Hey—what's wrong?"

"Everything," sighed Alison as she walked to the center of the bridge and looked up to the sky. "I went home to talk to Jamal about my mom—and I pushed him away. My first love and I just ended it without batting an eye. How horrible am I?"

Rafe couldn't help but push her hair out of her face, letting his hands stay gently on the sides of her face, "You aren't horrible—you are a wonderful, caring human."

"How do you know?"

"I can see it in your actions—the kindness and softness in your voice. It's like an angel—and I've never known angels to be horrible," he said with a half smile that made Alison smile too. "You feeling better?"

"No—I hurt Jamal tonight and I'm not sure I know how to make it up to him. Or if I even can."

"If it's meant to be then it'll happen. The big guy up there—he's got a plan for all of us," said Rafe as he took his eyes off of her for a moment to look at the sky.

"I always thought—."

"What? That you two were meant to be together forever? Maybe you are—maybe you aren't—we don't chose our fate—it chooses us from the moment we're born until we take our last breath of life."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," said Alison as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Maybe just a little," he laughed. "Why don't I take you home before we both freeze out here?" asked Rafe as she gave a nod and he didn't know why, but he put his arm around her shoulders and let her lean into him.

------------------------

Chris kept tapping the edge of the envelope on his leg as he waited for the PI he hired to answer his phone. He noted the postmark on the envelope—Chicago, Illinois. She could be anywhere—but he knew he had the resources and money to find her—no matter how long it took.

"About time you answered—what am I paying you for?" he asked gruffly.

"Ok—I've got a lead. Chicago area. First name will be either Julie or Julianne. Last name can be one of three—Morris, Devlin, or perhaps even Ramsey. Look for hyphenated names also. Occupation? Doctor. Don't focus just in on the hospitals—she might be at working at a free clinic. Yes I know it's a large area—if you can get me this info within 24 hours I'll pay you double."

He hung up the phone and dropped it onto the couch. Running his hands over his face and through his hair he let out a breath he was holding, "Alright Ramsey--how about a nice martini while we wait?"

------------------

He covered her hand with his, holding it just a moment before removing it from his chest and bringing to his lips for a quick kiss, "Sweetheart—there is no such thing as destiny. I learned a long time ago that you make your own choices—that the stronger your desires for greatness are the more likely are to make the right choice. I had an ancestor that had the choice to go for greatness and he didn't—he was weak and though he might have had the family he wanted he eventually did die."

"We all die Caleb. There is no such thing as immortality or fountain of youth."

"True, but it's the ones that leave their mark on the world that are remembered."

"Maybe some of us are too busy attempting to leave that mark that they never let themselves live," said Livvie as she turned and walked out of Caleb's loft.

-----------------------

"You want me to fix you something to eat? Or maybe I could make you some hot chocolate to warm you up?" asked Rafe as he followed Alison into her home and she went down to sit on the couch.

"No, I'm fine—I should try his cell phone, see if he'll answer me," said Alison as she reached for the phone and stared at it in her hands. "What do I tell him though?"

"Whatever you feel is right," he said as he came over and took her hand for a moment before realizing how wrong it was—here she was trying to make up with her boyfriend and he seemed to be swooping in for the kill He dropped her hand a moved away slightly on the couch.

Alison pursed her lips together in thought, "Maybe I should wait—sleep on it and tomorrow my head will be clear. Who knows—maybe Jamal will be home when I wake up."

"Yeah, maybe," said Rafe softly as he went to the door and watched her pass him and head towards her's and Jamal's bed. "Goodnight Alison."

"Goodnight Rafe," she said as she turned quickly and looked back at him. "Rafe—wait—thank you for what you said to me tonight. It really did help."

"No problem. That's what I'm here for," he said and gave her a giant smile that seemed to warm her up more and then finished letting himself out into the cold December night.

------------------------

He'd fallen asleep on the couch when the ringing sound woke him up, having to dig the phone out from underneath himself he didn't even think it might be his PI calling him back—was sure it was the hospital with an emergency, "Chris Ramsey."

"You sound like you weren't expecting me," said the voice of his PI on the other end.

"You already found something?"

"Yeah—a Julianne Ramsey working in a free clinic in the Chicago neighborhood of Austin. Sounds like she might just be your girl. So about that raise in pay—."

"You'll get it when I'm sure it's her," said Chris as he hung up the phone and then dialed another number. "I need the earliest flight you have tomorrow bound for Chicago."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: One more down—I think about 4 more to go. Until next time—ya'll are the best—PCGirl.

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Ian could tell just by her body language that his wife was angry about something so he walked up slowly and cautiously put his hands on her arms before whispering, "If you don't settle down you're going to scare all the patients away."

"Yeah?" she snapped and she turned and looked at her face. "Well, maybe some of them will go away because I'm stuck with mine and Ramsey's today—do you know what he did?"

"No, but I'm sure I'm going to hear the full story," he said as he took two steps back and crossed his arms while looking at her and all he could think was _God she's beautiful when she's angry._

"Don't give me that look—I'm not in the mood."

"What look?" he asked, trying not to smile at her.

"The look you are giving me—where you stare at me while I blow my top and the whole time you are mentally undressing me."

He couldn't help but laugh, "Fine—you caught me. Now what about Ramsey?"

"He calls and leaves a message on Alan's machine last night—says he's got an emergency he has to attend to. And that he wants me to take care of his patients while he's gone—didn't even say when he was returning," she said and then realized Ian was silent, "You know something? You knew he was planning on skipping town and dropping his patients in my lap."

"I—no—not exactly."

"Then what do you know?"

"He was searching for something and I guess he found it," shrugged Ian as he walked over to the files Eve had accumulated. "I can take a few of the patients if you want—you don't need to have a big workload and Ramsey knows that."

"Don't you try and change the subject on me, Thornhart," she said as she looked and saw Kevin walking towards his office. "Oh my god—this has to do with Julie, doesn't it?"

---------------------

Alison pulled the pastries out of the oven and sat them on the counter to cool before moving them to the display case for sale—she'd hoped when she woke up this morning she'd feel better. That she'd be able to pick up the phone and talk to Jamal—talk about their problems and convince him it was a stupid fight and to come home. But she didn't want to talk about it—because they'd been trying to fix something that was beyond broken for months and she was tired.

She pushed her hair behind her ear as she walked out into the bakery and saw Livvie staring down in the case, "Livvie—hi—I didn't know you'd come in. You want the regular?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said with a shrug and Alison gave her a look before making up two latte's for the both of them and walked around to the small table that she'd set up in front of the store window. "We used to be good with telling each other everything—why don't you start?"

Livvie stared down at her drink a moment before taking a sip and looking back at Alison—someone she considered her best friend, someone used to always take her side and she couldn't help but wondering how she'd react, "I gave Jack an ultimatum—asked him if he'd ever be able to forgive me and he couldn't tell me. Said it would take more time. I told him I was tired of it all and left."

"I'm sorry—I know how it feels—."

"You do not—don't even lie to me. You are Alison—queen of perfect—you never screw anything up so don't give me that," she snapped suddenly.

"No, you don't know," said Alison as she put her head down to try and control her emotions—the opening of the bakery door made her look up before she was in control again.

---------------------

"Are you going to answer me or just stand there like a giant Irish idiot? He was searching for Julie and found her—he's gone to bring her back here."

"Keep it down, woman," he said as he grabbed her arm and they headed for the nearest empty room. Once they'd gone in Ian locked the door and turned around to Eve. "I know he was searching for Julie—had found out she was still alive. I'm assuming he found her—but that's all it is—assumptions. For all we know he went to an emergency medical conference."

"And when did you and him get all buddy-buddy? Better yet when did your morals slide so much that it's ok to rip apart a family."

"My morals didn't slide—but it's not my battle and it's not yours either—so let's drop it until he gets back," said Ian as he placed his hands on her shoulders and waited for a response.

"Fine, but if Lucy gets wind that I knew anything you will be thrown to the wolves, Thornhart."

"For you—I'd do anything," he said as he voice got huskier and he pulled her into a deep kiss.

--------------------

"I'm sorry—I'll come back," said Jasmine as she tried to slip back out of the bakery.

"No—no—it's no problem, we were just talking," said Alison as she jumped up to help the customer and then remembered her pastries she was letting cool. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

Jasmine tapped her fingers on the counter—she knew she shouldn't have come in here—knew she shouldn't have spoken to either Livvie or Alison just now, but felt drawn here. Felt like there was something she could say or do to ease both their minds—now she just prayed she didn't screw this up. When Alison walked back in she glanced at the pastries she was brining, "Those smell delicious—is that pear?"

"Mmm hmmm," nodded Alison as she placed them in the case. "So, what can I get for you?"

"One of those pear pastries—and a hazelnut coffee, please."

"Sure," said Alison as she looked behind Jasmine and to Livvie who was staring quietly out the window. She hoped Livvie wouldn't try to dart out with the customer—she needed her friend and was hoping that maybe her and Livvie could each be there for the other.

Jasmine thought about saying nothing and just walking out of the bakery, but as she got to the door she looked at Alison who was coming back around the side and then directly into Livvie's eyes, "Listen—it's not my place, but I can see you two are having trouble. There was a time before—I pulled away from my closest friends for years over something stupid, but in the end we were able to put all that aside and go back to our wonderful friendship. Don't give up on friendship—you'll never know when you truly need it to be there."

Alison watched the customer leave and then locked the door and changed the sign to closed. She didn't sit back down though, but leaned on the chair, her hands gripped the back of it, "Before—I was trying to tell you about me and Jamal. He left last night—and it's all my fault, so no—I'm not perfect."

"I doubt you had anything to do with it."

"Believe what you want—but I did. I was getting tired of trying to make our relationship work—didn't you say those same exact words a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah," she said quietly before grabbing her purse and coffee and giving Alison a hug. "Do you think that woman was right? That through all of this—in the end—we'll be able to be friends again?"

"I hope so," smiled Alison as tears filled her eyes.

"Me too. See ya around, Ali," she said as she unlocked the door and stood in the open doorway.

"Yeah, see ya," she smiled with a watery smile as her friend left.


End file.
